Baptist church launches radio station
A Christian radio station has been launched by Cornerstone Baptist Church in Norfolk
**please note this article was published in 2016 and the radio station described here is no longer operating**
Faithful Radio is an online, 24-hour radio station without adverts and can be accessed free from mobiles and computers. It broadcasts a mix of topics, including music, chat and interactive Bible study.
The launch party (pictured) was listened to all over Europe, with people tuning in from Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland and England.
The Revd Linda Turner (second right) is one of the key players in the new radio station. She used to broadcast a two-hour morning worship show on the local community radio station, which proved popular and had good listening figures.
'I soon realised we could reach more people if we had a Christian radio station. We prayed about it with the church and discussed it and with the church’s support we developed and grew into Faithful Radio,' said Linda.
'We are excited that we can broadcast to a wider audience bringing relevant news and views as well as great Christian music, including new releases,' said Linda. 'The vision is to reach as many people as we can to encourage their faith and bring it to life, staying faithful to what we believe.'
The church has been amazed at the response to the programmes with the interactive bible study being the most popular, followed by the Daytime show. Listeners have tuned in from as far away Japan, Russia, Bulgaria, Germany and of course the UK.
The church prayed and dreamt about the station, thinking outside of the box to a wider audience. There will be about 30 hours a week of live broadcasting with the hope that this time will grow as more shows come on line. There are several in development at the moment.
Programmes range from children’s stories to interactive Bible study. There are specialist genres of music with a spiritual element, including Christian jazz, show tunes and 1950s music. Every Sunday morning, there is a morning worship show and a live broadcast of the evening service.
'The technology we are using means that DJ presenters do not need to come into the studio to present their show as we can set up a remote DJ account which will enable them to broadcast live, if anyone is interested in joining us we would be delighted to hear from them,' said Linda.
'We would love to see our station broadcast 24/7 with DJ presenters from all over the world so we can reach all countries and their cultures. We are simply following the command of Jesus to spread the Gospel to all the world, to reach all people.'
By Kira Taylor
Baptist Times, 07/09/2016